Posted by
KLO
15 yrs ago
I got an offer from my company to work in HKG. Housing will be arranged by my employer, we are now entering the negotiation about salary and housing allowance and all other possible allowances.
I would like to know more about all sort of costs I have to bear in mind before I go into the negotiation.
The assignment will be for approximately 3 years, office will be in Central.
Where to life? what is a reasonable housing allowance?
What do I need to spend on travelling, food, entertainment, Internet, Phone bills.
Are there other important costs I have to bear in mind.
your advices will be appreciated.
kind regards,
KLO
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Easier to answer if you tell us:
- Do you have wife/kids? How many? School age or not?
- Are you entry level, supervisor, manager, executive?
- Do you want to live in the city, close to nightlife, suburb close to Central, countryside?
Your biggest cost will probably be rent but that can range from a few thousand for a one bedroom in a less affluent area to 100k a month for three beds in Repulse Bay or The Peak.
Public transport is efficient and cheap so that isn't a normally big cost.
Food. If you eat local cuisine and shop at the markets, you can get by very cheaply. If you want "Western Food", you can easily spend over 10k/month for a family of four, plus restaurant visits.
If you hire a helper that will cost approximately 4500 and up per month.
Internet is a few hundred per month. Cell phone with data plan maybe 500-600.
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KLO
15 yrs ago
Dear Axptguy38,
thanks for the information.
I will move to HKG with my wife, living near Central would be preferred. I will be a junior VP in HKG.
My employer proposed HKD 40k for housing, i assume that this will be more than enough for two of us. Close to nightlife is not necessary, understood transportation is efficient and pretty cheap. However I will try to get even more out of that in the negotiation of course......
Currently we both have a good salary, however when we move, my wife has to resign her job over here and need to find a new job in HKG. She currently is an area business manager for an small import/export company. How easy is it for her to find a job in HKG? So in the overlapping time we only have one (my) salary.
rest of the costs seems bearable. I agreed that you can spend a fortune on dinning out, but you can also get cheap local food. This is something we can control ourself.
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If it's just the two of you, Midlevels is a good place to start. 40k is very reasonable and will get you a nice 2-3 bedroom. You should also look in Happy Valley, Kennedy Town, Sai Ying Pun and some parts of Wan Chai (around Queen's Road East and Star Street). If you want to live a bit further out, look in Pok Fu Lam, Shouson Hill, West Kowloon, Jardine's Lookout...
Your wife finding a job in HK: very hard to say. My guess is that import/export here requires some knowledge of Cantonese. But if she can work with other stuff... Anyway I would count on her not getting a job to start with. If she can, that's a bonus.
Our biggest monthly costs are rent, food and schools. Add to that vacations. In comparison the rest of the costs are not really that high but of course add up.
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I would think very hard before making this sort of move.
It is unlikely that your wife will be able to find employment in her field here. If she gives up her own career to accompany you to Hong Kong and then drops out of the work force, it may be difficult for her to resume working at the same level, professionally, when you depart Hong Kong.
That sort of scenario can be, for some couples, a major problem down the road.
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lucas.ogara raises a valid point but I think that sort of thing is much harder if the trailing spouse is a man.
Also, and not suggesting you do, but some couples start having babies and "solve" the whole dilemma that way.
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